Science Buddies'
middle school science projects are the perfect way for
middle school students to have fun exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our
middle school projects are written and tested by scientists and are specifically created for use by students in the
middle school grades. Students can choose to follow the science experiment as written or put their own spin on the project.
For a personalized list of science projects,
middle schoolers can use the Science Buddies Topic Selection Wizard.
The wizard asks students to respond to a series of simple statements and then uses their answers to recommend
age-appropriate projects that fit their interests.
Imagine if instead of spooning up a bowl of soup, a container of yogurt, or a cup of pudding you could just pick up and pop in your mouth a round, mess-free, ball-like blob of one of those. It might feel like snacking rather than eating a meal! In this food science project you can try exactly that. The simple step-by-step directions will lead you through trying a fun cooking technique called reverse spherification to turn yogurt into semi-solid balls, which are called "raviolis." How do you…
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FoodSci_p075
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- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Chemicals need to be specially ordered. Specialty items may be purchased from our partner
.
See the Materials section for details.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Adult supervision may be needed for using a blender. All chemicals in this science project are safe to use (they are common food additives).
If you were in a raiding army in the Middle Ages, a catapult would come in mighty handy for taking down castle walls. But only if you could aim it reliably! With this science project, you will try your hand at catapult technology. Using a rubber-band-powered catapult you will send ping pong balls flying through the air. The catapult's design makes it easy to measure and repeat how hard the ball is launched and its direction, so you can find the right catapult settings to hit the target reliably.
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ApMech_p008
+ More Details
- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
A kit is available from our partner .
See the Materials tab for details.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Do not aim the catapult at breakable objects or people; minor injury possible.
You have probably heard about using renewable energy sources like wind and solar power to provide electricity to homes and buildings, as well as hybrid or fully electric cars that use less (or zero) gasoline. But what about solar-powered robots? As robots become more common, it is increasingly important to use "green" energy sources to power them. In this project, you will build and test a popular robot called a bristlebot — a tiny robot made using toothbrushes—that can operate on…
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Robotics_p026
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- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
A kit containing all the electronics parts needed for this project can be found in a kit from our partner
.
Picture this situation: An elderly woman is rushed to the hospital complaining of severe abdominal pain, tinnitus, and lethargy. Suspecting a drug interaction, the emergency room doctor starts questioning her. The doctor learns that the woman takes no medicines except aspirin for her arthritis. Since she cannot swallow pills well she takes a powdered form of aspirin which she buys in bulk and keeps in a plastic container in her kitchen next to her baking goods. She had just finished a day of…
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Chem_p093
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- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
Material Availability
A kit containing specialty items needed for this project is available from our partner . See the Materials tab for more details.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Wear disposable gloves when working with chemicals.
Have you tried our first and second play dough circuits projects? Are you a master circuit artist, ready to try something even bigger and better? Try this project to see if you can build a three-dimensional light-up sculpture.
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Elec_p075
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- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
This project requires understanding the Introduction material in the first projects in this series:
[# ProjectIdea Name="Elec_p073" Value="HtmlAnchor" HtmlText="Light Up Your Play Dough!" #] and
[# ProjectIdea Name="Elec_p074" Value="HtmlAnchor" HtmlText="Add Even More Lights" #]
Material Availability
Kit available for purchase from our partner
.
See Materials tab for details.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Never connect the battery pack's terminals directly to each other; this is called a short circuit and can make the batteries and wires get very hot. Do not connect the LEDs directly to the battery pack without using play dough; this will burn out the LEDs.
Did you know that throwing, kicking, and punting a football all involve the science of projectile motion? A star NFL® quarterback, kicker, and punter each need to have a very good understanding of how a football moves through the air in order to help them win games. In this science project, you will set up a rubber band-powered catapult to represent a field goal kicker, and study how changing the distance from the goalposts affects how hard it is to accurately kick a field goal.
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Sports_p059
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- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This science project requires a kit available from our partner
.
See the Materials section for details.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Never launch projectiles at people, animals, or anything fragile. Be careful not to get your fingers caught in moving parts of the catapult.
Have you ever heard about different blood types? Do you know what your blood type is? Antibodies
help scientists determine different human blood types. This project is a practical introduction
to the human immune system in which you will learn about what antibodies are, how they are formed,
and how they can be used to identify different types of cells.
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BioChem_p008
+ More Details
- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
A kit containing specialty items is needed for this science project from our partner
.
See the Materials tab for more details.
Physicists sometimes study matter under extreme conditions. For example, think of the emptiness of interstellar space vs. the unimaginable crush of pressure at the center of a neutron star, or an object dipped in liquid nitrogen vs. the tiles on the space shuttle during re-entry. Here's an experiment on permanent magnets in "extreme kitchen" conditions that you can try at home.
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Phys_p025
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- Less Details
Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
A kit is available from our partner
.
See the Materials section for details.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Adult supervision highly recommended. Use proper caution when transferring or holding magnets at extreme temperatures. See the Procedure for details.
Have you ever looked at sunlight through a prism? If so, you know that the prism can separate the sunlight into many different colors of light — a rainbow. Like sunlight, chemical mixtures can also be broken into their component parts. One way of doing this is a simple technique called paper chromatography. What do you think you will see if you use paper chromatography to look at the components of black ink? Is black ink just black? Find out for yourself!
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Chem_p008
+ More Details
- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
For your convenience a kit is available from our partner
.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Alcohol is flammable and toxic. Adult supervision is recommended while working with the isopropyl alcohol.
Imagine telling your friends about your latest science project: using a battery to make a light turn on. You might get some blank stares...sounds a little boring and basic, right? Now tell them you will do it with a potato! Yes, you can actually use fruits and vegetables as part of an electric power source! Batteries power many things around you, including cell phones, wireless video game controllers, and smoke detectors. In this science project, you will learn about the basics of battery…
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Energy_p010
+ More Details
- Less Details
Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
A kit is available for this project from our partner
.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Do not eat the potatoes after they have been used as batteries.
